UN forces stand guard on a street in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Dec. 22. France urged its citizens to leave Ivory Coast on Wednesday after the UN chief warned the former French colony in West Africa faces 'a real risk' of return to civil war following the disputed presidential election.

A top opposition figure called Wednesday for the international community to use force to oust Laurent Gbagbo from the presidency after the disputed election, as France urged its citizens to get out amid growing fears of civil war.

"It is obvious that there is one solution left — that of force," Guillaume Soro told France's i-tele television channel. He added that "200 people have been killed by the bullets of Liberian and Angolan mercenaries" in Ivory Coast but he did not elaborate and the numbers could not immediately be confirmed.

The UN said Sunday that at least 50 people have been killed in Ivory Coast in recent days, and the UN chief also has expressed concern about the recruitment of fighters from neighboring Liberia.